Thursday 14 November 2013

hoodiegoodie

a while ago i made myself a hoodie
because i knew i was going to need it at Haystack
and then
it left me
for someone else.


now the temperatures are sliding southward
i needed something to keep me warm
[i do have my coat but those sleeves are not practical when hovering around a cauldron]

so i cut and sewed [by hand, with silk]
added pockets here and there [but DANG, forgot to add one for a poem at the back. ah well]

made an enormous hood
that has buttons on it so i can play with it as a collar
and dyed it with leaves that had found their way into my pockets
on a favourite hill a month or so back [relax, they didn't cross any borders and went from pocket to boil-up, now in freezer in case of re-use]

the materials were from the red,white+blue thrift store in New Orleans
and included a duck-egg blue cashmere, a lilac silk, a brown merino [that brown was really too fuzzy for clear prints but so warm] and some rather paler scraps that had been cut from cardigans i am re-shaping

so this hoodie
like the other
is constructed and dyed with special magic.
the warmth comes not just from the physical materials...

i'm not good at self-portraits
so these pix will have to do




i added a good bit either side. hips, ya know?


sideways. ah well. here's the hood down, as collar

hood in roughly a hood-shaped arrangement

you'll just have to imagine the face peeking out

buttons on the hood opened


i told you the hood was enormous.

delicious detail...mostly hidden on the hood. but i know it's there and that's what matters

looks like something that Ötzi might have worn

45 comments:

  1. india....that is beautiful. wouldn't it be fun to have a class making hoodies of found thrift store sweaters, etc. maybe you've already done that, i don't know, but this hoodie is really inspiring.

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    1. i teach a shapeshifter class from time to time...usually we make dresses but if someone wanted to sew i hoodie i wouldn't stop them... :)

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  2. oh , India you are fantastic , today i looked your book 2 for cutting in a casmersweater , from a second hand shop , cannot use it any more , cut the sleeves of eccoprint with euca and now drying , have to stich , also for winter i think for yoga !!!! who news , looks speciel

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    Replies
    1. and if you find a really big sweater you can make good knee warmers for winter from the sleeves too

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  3. oooo me likey... me likey lots and lots and lots

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  4. India, This is so lovely. I think you better watch out that this one doesn't also "leave" you! :-)

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  5. Maybe it was a good thing your first hoodie left you - or you wouldn't have made this! Gosh and darn, it's magnificent!

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  6. Oh my !!! Gobsmacked yet again by your creation...... and inspired to try to be BOLD with the cutting and piecing of the small stash of sweaters I acquired yesterday from our local thrift. Such loveliness from what others have considered useless.

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  7. Otzi should have been so lucky...it's a beautiful, magical garment.

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  8. Lovely a walking.hoodie of natural magic I want.one. Way to go :-)

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  9. With your hoodie Otzi wouldnt have frozen to dead. On the contrairy....lots of icetimegirls would have come and warmed him and admired his beautiful hoodie.
    I'm honestly dreaming of the possibility to work with you some day , changing old garments into new ones. (I'm already collecting)!

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    Replies
    1. ...no icemaidens have thrown themselves at me yet....just as well. i'm not sure i could cope!

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  10. Totally gorgeous and inspiring.

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  11. Awesome garment! I love all those glorious, secret details. What a luxurious kind of warmth this will give.

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    Replies
    1. totally toasty but with a very practical sleeve length!

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  12. that's ms. Ötzi to us. i think i might adore something like this one…it looks delicious to cocoon in.

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  13. well, if THIS is what happens when you give one away,
    I can't wait till you give this one away ...
    xo

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    1. i did send an other one in a parcel to Lopez recently...was good practice for this un. if it doesn't fit into the bags going home i shall remember that i have your address on file....but i'm not making any promises just yet

      >^*+*^<

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  14. I love that you included Otzi in the concept - one of my favourite characters in history

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  15. Replies
    1. you'd need a lot of floss afterward to get all the fluff out!

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  16. I had to go and get Second Skin. I need more details on your magic… :)

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    Replies
    1. truly easy...just cutting and pasting but with a needle and thread :-)

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  17. Hi, India - I can picture you kindly face peeking out from the wonderful hood, keeping cozy and grumbling happily!
    Best wishes and warmth as temps decline,
    sus

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    Replies
    1. i've been snug and happy in it all day...except for when it got too warm!

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  18. Oh it's wonderful! I love the hood!

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  19. This is so incredibly inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  20. Genius work as always. I like seeing the blue hue mixed in.
    Glad you are warmer now.

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  21. really lovely India
    inspiring indeed!

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  22. Wow! This is almost as gorgeous as you are...and I'll bet you you absolutely stunning in it. Even without a picture, I can see you in it. Vividly. Xo

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  23. flabbergasted ... you are an amazing patterncutter/clothesmaker/colourist perhaps alchemist covers it ... this hoodie - those dresses that were in Paris, I can't think of the right words, but the photos looked utterly gorgeous ... (btw if you ever have things available to the general public to see in Paris during fashion week again ... I will be there doing my thing, so please a little advance publicity so I can go and look would be very kind) ...

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